[Eugene, the future Father Seraphim, briefly commented later in life on his attending his first Orthodox worship service: ] ". . . [W]hen I entered an Orthodox church for the first time (a Russian church in San Francisco) something happened to me that I had not experienced in any Buddhist or other Eastern temple; something in my heart said that this was 'home,' that all my search was over. I didn't really know what this meant, because the service was quite strange to me, and in a foreign language. I began to attend Orthodox services more frequently, gradually learning its language and customs." . . .
After his first experience of an Orthodox service, Eugene attended services in a number of Orthodox churches. Above all he was attracted to the Russian tradition. In San Francisco, three overlapping "jurisdictions" of the Russian Orthodox Church were represented: the Russian Church Abroad, the American Metropolia [N. B.: Later to become the Orthodox Church of America (OCA)], and the Moscow Patriarchate. Eugene went to services in the church of all three.
In 1957 Eugene was profoundly moved while attend the Holy Week and Pascha (Easter) services in the various Russian churches in San Francisco, espeically in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the American Metropolia. At that time the Metropolia's ruling hierarch in San Francisco was Bishop John Shahovsky. A highly regarded and influential church figure, Bishop John had grown up as a prince in pre-Revolutionary Russia. He was tonsured a monk on Mount Athos, Greece, in 1926, and served as the dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York before being appointed Bishop of San Francisco and Western American in 1950. . . .
Eugene's experience in the Russian Cathedrals--both of Archbishop Tikhon and Bishop John--did not bring about an immediate change in him. A seed had been planted, one that would grow inside of him and later transform him into a new being. Almost three years would pass between his first entrance into an Orthodox Cathedral and the time when he would come to know Him Who was depicted in the Cathedral's icon.
--Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works, pp. 83-84, 86
Posted by Clifton at December 17, 2003 12:00 AM | TrackBackThis is always so powerful.
Posted by: aaron at December 17, 2003 01:43 PM~espeically in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the American Metropolia.~
I had no idea. I will add another St, officially, to my list of "on these floorboards where I sing..."